


Why Sekio Mori Needs a Raise, The Summary

by KarmaMayOrMayNotBeOkay



Category: Naruto
Genre: ANBU - Freeform, And a person who can't seem to stay in one division, Author Is Sleep Deprived, Canon-Typical Violence, I'm a chaotic bastard, Ibiki has (1) weakness, Other, R&D, Sekio is Non-binary, Slow To Update, T&I, The Life Cycle of The Average Desk Ninja, The aviary?, This might just be a crack fic, Who cares!, do not expect good writing, looks like a cinnamon roll but could very much kill you, show up like, unbeta'ed we die like men, whenever they want
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-17
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:40:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 4,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23697115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KarmaMayOrMayNotBeOkay/pseuds/KarmaMayOrMayNotBeOkay
Summary: Mori Sekio, or just Sekio, is what most people like to call a desk shinobi. Part time field operative or not, they're an expert on navigating the many divisions of Konoha that happen to be run on mostly paperwork. And with their tendencies to end up everywhere from R&D to the bottom of T&I, shenanigans happen.
Relationships: Other Relationship Tags to Be Added
Comments: 8
Kudos: 40





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to the first AO3 exclusive Naruto fic I've ever done. I don't have a beta and this is more of a drabbles book, so I make mistakes. Pronouns are also going to be fucked up at some point or another, so please let me know when that happens. I regularly go through and edit the shit out of this.

Sekio Mori is not the ideal Konoha shinobi, nor are they the first one that pops to mind. Ever. Sekio, in all honesty, doesn't mind a single bit. They do their job, take field missions sometimes, and is one of the few people that still exist after scolding Ibiki Morino. The world goes round, the village thrives, and Sekio is content.

Until a co-worker wakes them up at two in the morning to process the paperwork from a last minute interrogation. Fuck.

-

Sekio is what most people call a desk-nin. no matter how much they protest. The title always sticks. There is no escaping it. They admit to spending most of their time in various ninja offices, processing paperwork or chewing out shinobi for turning incomplete written reports in. This is their life beyond the typical missions they take, and the minimal amount of time they spend 'out'. Sleep is an afterthought, much like realizing their jounin sensei's continued existence, the utter bastard.

They are not a full time desk-nin, and continue to take missions in order to keep food on the table, and the landlord happy. Some would theorize that their part time desk gigs would pay this off. And it typically does. But Sekio happens to also be a ninja, and ninja have a tendency to go broke if they don't have a healthy clan inheritance to fall back on. This is, in all standards, a verified fact.

Despite Sekio Mori being about as remarkable as a nail, they are sometimes noticed. Whether the attention be good or bad. (Or, in some cases, simply awkward. This is a far too often occurrence.) In typical shinobi fashion, this usually ends in shenanigans. Weird ones. Like being asked out on lunch dates by ANBU, or staring Anko in the eyes for more than strictly necessary, or simply Kakashi dumping a pack of child gremlins on you. They wonder what they ever did to the universe, or to Kumo. Because Kumo has somehow mustered up the audacity to shove them into their local bingo books and Sekio would honestly very much want to know _why_. Because the cannot under any circumstance remember any time they had given Kumo so much of a middle finger for them to put a bounty on their head.

It doesn't always end horribly. The ANBU was very nice at least, and they knew one of Kakashi's gremlins, but they really have no working theory on why it happens to them of all people. Their current working theory is that they did something absolutely atrocious in their past life. The special jounin endured, and they prayed that it would somehow pay off. Eventually.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happens when you wake up Sekio at two in the morn? Bad things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first chapter was mostly an introduction. I'll hopefully manage to write the rest in mostly Sekio's perspective. Note: I don't really use a lot of Japanese customs. Horifics are difficult for me, and if I ever decide to add them, it won't be in the first (or most likely second) version.
> 
> Edit: Came back and make Sekio's mood worse, because I'm like that.

It was two in the morning. Two twenty three to be exact, but Sekio could hardly care about the specifics when they had someone banging on their door. This was one of the very, very few times they were asleep, everyone in research and development knew this, and thus probably wouldn't cross them without adequate protection. Which meant it was most likely the intelligence department freaking out over something, or torture and interrogation. Sekio ran the numbers groggily, and the probability that intelligence needed them at this time of night. This left them with one conclusion and the decision that they really did unfortunately have to force themselves to get up.

Sekio shoved their covers off and grudgingly made their way to turn on their lamp. The sudden influx of light made them hiss but they pushed through it with a partial hand over their face and pure annoyance. They grabbed whatever was closest from the closet and decided if they wanted them to look professional at this time of night, they could send a complaint. They had pants on by the time they were approaching the door, and shrugged a dark grey t-shirt over their sholders as they went. By the time the front door was open, and the T&I operative was looking at them, they had almost looked semi presentable, if not for their shoulder length hair being ruffled.

They glared as they held the door open. 

"What does Ibiki want?" Sekio spit.

-

They wondered, if somewhere, in another universe because it would clearly never happen here, if they would ever get a break.

Their hands were controlled, and precise as they wrote. If they had any less measure of willpower, they probably would have been shaking at least slightly from exhaustion. They were _tired_. In all measures. They wanted to ask whoever decided that they needed Sekio Mori and not any other person to process a interrogation report at two in the morning what the absolute hell they were thinking. They glanced at the only window in the room, and decided it was probably closer to four now.

They weren't even a full time employee and this is part of why it was so infuriating. A younger Mori made the mistake of joining R&D, and then when asked, covering shifts for Intelligence, and then inevitably, T&I. Young Mori should have run in the other direction and become a field operative, picked up a weird jounin habit. Anything other than what they do now. 

They sigh as the last lines go down on the paper, and decide to take it up themselves, because they wanted to glare at someone. And then sleep for six hours.

Knocking on Ibiki Morino's door probably would have made a lesser desk-nin cry. Sekio was not a lesser nin, and instead glared at it like it held the reason for all of their misery. Which, in all honesty in this situation, it did. They heard the slight grumbling as it was opened and pointedly looked Ibiki right in his eyes. Ibiki only looked mildly surprised to see them, and Sekio took this as a nice cue to ask the inevitable question.

"Why?" They hissed the word out, and Ibiki didn't even have the will to look sorry for what he had done. The man in question didn't verbally ask for the report, but made a gesture instead. Sekio handed it over, but refused to back down from their question. 

Ibiki sighed and made another gesture as he opened his mouth to speak. "Would you be irritated with me if I told you it was because of your reputation here?" He processed what he said, and immediately brought his palm up to his face. "Dammit, that came out wrong." He groaned.

Sekio was already irritated, and the statement didn't help any. His expression fell, as the time caught up to them. Their hands made their way into their hair. "Why me, why at two in the fucking morning? I'm sure you have employee's on shift during this time, fulltime ones even!" Sekio snarled the last bit out with more force than strictly required.

Ibiki made another hopeless gesture to save himself, and refused to cave to their reasoning. "Maybe I just possibly wanted you specifically to process it, alright? I'll make it up to you later somehow, you want time off or something? I can get you some time off." Ibiki sounded almost as tired as they did as he spoke.

Sekio stared with a blank expression, and the sharp inhale was almost a relief in the silence that had taken over. They didn't make a move, but Ibiki still somehow felt pinned.

"You owe me Ibiki. I don't care what excuses you have, I'm going to walk out the door. I am going to sleep for several hours, you are not even going to _think_ about making me come in off my shift for at least a week." They carefully spoke. Sekio opened the door, walked out of it, eye contact wasn't broken until they were a foot away from Ibiki's office.

Ibiki finally let their posture relax, not even aware it had tensed in the encounter in the first place. And then immediately realized that they probably let Sekio push them around too much. That nin had too much power over them, the _head_ of the goddam _torture and interrogation_ department. They made a slightly pained noise in the back of their throat.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As you can tell, my updates are completely random. I'm usually not the type to churn out singular chapters every week or so, I mostly write one or two and randomly drop them sometime from two minutes to a month. I'm really used to taking commented ideas sometimes.

When Sekio Mori wasn't being the liege of paperwork, they were taking C or B ranks, preparing to do paperwork, sleeping, or doing what they were now, shopping.

They didn't do the activity often, as they usually just ate out or something akin to that. (Alternatively known as leeching off the lesser desk-nin in a desperate attempt to gain sustenance.)

Something about shopping made them uncomfortable. Was it the civilians? The fact that their co-workers could see them here without fear in their minds? Their thought process went a little haywire whenever they had to restock their shelves. It shouldn't be nearly as bad as they make it out to be in their mind, but it always feels like a storm of impending doom is waiting to trample their spine as soon as they made a move out of place.

They picked up rice, some variant of noodle that would stay good for a long time, coffee grounds, beef, and some variant of tea. Shopping for shinobi supplies was done in a separate district, where they generally knew more people.

The list was very rarely altered, and they always picked up supplies from specific vendors. This did nothing to stop the feeling Sekio got whenever they had to step into the crowd.

They amounted most of their feeling to civilians. After spending as long as Sekio did around shinobi, things set you off easier than they would in a civilian life. Crowds, loud noises, specific smells even.

Certain ninja thought that most of the shinobi above chunin were weird. And in all honesty? They absolutely were.

The tended to develop habits, weird ones in most cases. A lot of this could be amounted to triggers, or the fact that frankly, after having the experience required to be that rank? You went just a bit insane. Some more so than others.

Most people assumed Sekio's descent into madness began with their jounin-sensei which in most cases, wouldn't be wrong. But Sekio didn't start becoming jounin levels of insane until their brief interlude with the sensory squad. In which they developed a healthy enough sense of paranoia to actually qualify as a jounin tick.

Thanks to this paranoia, Sekio now had intensely difficult times with crowds. In which they could experience sensory overload if it was big and loud enough. Which, in most markets, was typically the case.

The list helped with the most of it. They usually didn't stray from it unless there was a good enough sale or someone had requested they buy them something. Which was a rare case, because Sekio was probably the most intimidating paper-pusher in a twenty mile radius if they wanted to be.

-

Stepping into the market instinctively made their senses sharpen, and their eyes dart.

If you knew Sekio long or well enough, you'd know that there is absolutely no worse place to encounter Sekio Mori than a marsh, Ibiki's division doing paperwork, or the market. Words turned biting, their senses went haywire, and they would absolutely know without a doubt where you were.

Their footsteps made no sound, but most civvies, used to the shinobi presence, couldn't be bothered by it when they could be bargaining.

They got their rice and noodles in the same place, from a nice lady who they came to on a specific basis. The coffee grounds and tea were close, but not at the same stall, they sidestepped two people of the way and this only tuned them up.

Something was causing a commotion near the butcher they frequented.

The irritation went to the backburner when they discovered the cause, simply the Uzumaki being well, a Uzumaki. They paused in the street before going off to the side. They'd prefer to not be in the way of whatever might happen next.

-

The world really was out to get them today, they decided, as a familiar hand decided to rest on their flak jacket.

They thanked the kami for small mercies that the person in question hadn't laid a hand on their skin. That would be an entirely different encounter.

Sekio turned around, slowly, and the backburner decided it was done being ignored. It seeped into their voice.

"Jun. What could you ever want?" Their voice sharpened.

And if they weren't already tense from the sensory feedback of the market in general, they most definitely were now. The person in question was someone Sekio regrettably knew. Too well.

They cursed the day that a younger Sekio Mori thought to celebrate their first S-rank in a dumb manner, bringing a stranger into their bed.

They weren't on the gender binary, Jun just couldn't get it through his head. And then decided for the dumbest reasons to seek them out whenever they were feeling particularly vindictive.

Sekio, for the lack of a better work, despised Jun's guts and had only bothered to spare him up until this point due to a thing called common courtesy.

The commotion with the Uzumaki drowned out most of everything else. Including most of Jun's response, and anything Sekio might say in response.

So when the word _kunoichi_ slipped past Jun's traitorous lips Sekio didn't hesitate.

-

ANBU Finch had seen some shit. A lot of it involving injury, but watching what appeared to be a special jounin her senpai had called devil spawn once in a weirdly affectionate way gut punch what appeared to be a chunin in an alley way over being misgendered was somehow unique.

And weirdly attractive.

No really, she swore she wasn't into that before it happened in front of her on a Uzumaki shift.

When her response to the display (not that it was really meant to be one, she was sure) instinctively slipped past her lips, her mind had to take a moment to catch up with her mouth. And she squeaked.

_("Do you wanna go on a lunch date?")_

The shinobi in question was staring at her with the chunin in a grip with an almost questioning look. The moved their other hand to point a finger at themselves and they mouthed a quiet "Me?" without actually saying it.

Finch wanted to faint, or cry, but a Uzumaki needed watching and she was almost weirdly curious to see how this would go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ANBU Finch is a cutie I haven't decided the gender of to be completely honest. So uh. The pronouns might change later.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yay! More desk-nin Sekio! This is still the time of year where I feel as if I shouldn't be updating at all other than weekends, so my schedule is actually non-existent.

Sekio was tackling a shift at the missions desk today, if the other divisions wanted to complain about it they should really do that thing called giving them a goddam schedule. This was usually the prime time to get out of the village for once and away from the responsibilities, but they unfortunately had been called upon by a friend to cover his shift. Horrible really. It meant they had to deal with more than their usual crowd. And genin. By kami were they horrible at dealing with genin.

They gestured the next person forward and immediately gave a flat look at the report, if it could even be called that, that they had turned in. The chunin cringed at the look Sekio sent their way. They didn't have time to deal with subpar mission reports. They handed it back with a biting comment about incomplete paperwork and gestured them out of their way.

In retrospect, seeing the person set to come up next, they should have just forced that chunin to finish it at their desk. Sekio regretted the decision by the second. Goddammit. They swore under their breath but grudgingly gestured their hand. The genin team and leader walked forward. Uzumaki practically leaping while the others set a more moderate pace. Or more like the Uchiha set the pace and the civie was really just following them. They mostly focused their scowl on the man herding them towards their temporary desk.

Hatake had the audacity to wave at them when they made their way over while his genin stared on almost curiously. They could hear Uzumaki chattering on in the background about how 'This is Iruka-sensei's spot, who is this?-' while Hatake carefully changed his expression. Sekio spoke up. 

"I'm filling in for Iruka today. Are you just arriving back or are you turning in reports?" They made sure their voice was even enough, but their arms were crossed behind the cover of the desk. Hatake answered simply enough. "Arriving. D-rank. Catching Tora again. Turned in the objective already." That would explain the lacerations for sure. And where the bloody cat itself was. Sekio grumbled slightly before they wrote it somewhere for Iruka to find later.

"You should know the drill. Three days. Detailed and addressing the facts. Don't gloss yourself up. I know it's a temptation but really. Just don't." They snarked slightly at the end. "Shoo Hatake kiddies." The only Hatake in question wrinkled his nose beneath his mask before giving them a _look_.

"You know, since your here and all Mori-san" Dear kami he only used proper address when he was making a point. "-I'm sure you could teach my dear genin" that was clearly a mock. He was mocking them oh d _ear god._ "-the wonders of the shinobi bureaucratic system." They could clearly hear the Uzumaki's scrunched up face at that. They swore to god they could hear his smirk under that dammed mask. But you know what? Screw him. This was an opportunity to get these dammed brats to know what proper paperwork and filing looked like.

"You better get your kids clearance for the areas I work in Hatake." Sekio chirped. "I'm sure it's gonna be a very educational experience." Suck on that Hatake. _Suck on that._


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part two of the disaster Hatake brought upon himself. Or you know. More like his genin.

Team seven spends part of their first month as a team in an office while their sensei stares down at a poor chunin and slowly repeats the clearance cards he'll be needing for his "Dear genin to properly be educated by _Mori-san._ " For multiple reasons, the chunin paling does no favors to their moods. They can all practically hear the smirk on his face growing wider by the second. Sakura thinks that she may recognize the name from somewhere, possibly a rambling from another ninja? Naruto could probably recognize the guy who always looked so stressed in crowds from about twenty feet away. They've borne witness to a number of pranks before but had a tendency to simply walk away from whatever mess he made with that pained look on his face. Not that Naruto would ever really need to bring it up ever.

Sasuke has never heard of this shinobi and therefor thinks them out of their notice. They could honestly care less about whoever the guy Kakashi-sensei was shucking them off onto was. 

(Somewhere, in the back of Shikamaru's mind, he wonders if he'll ever meet Sekio Mori. It seems like it. The way people talk about them makes it sound like they never leave the office and if you don't file your paperwork in triplicate you'll be struck down by lightning. It's a slightly terrifying thought and Asuma absentmindedly appreciated that at least one of his genin knew how to properly file their paperwork.)

When the chunin finally manages to get the proper clearance cards, Sasuke raises his brow at he number of departments the dots signaled on the card. Even if the clearance levels we're admittedly lower. Kakashi cheerfully divides the cards up between them before he clears his throat to regain Naruto's attention.

"If you lose these, their will be no replacements and most likely a fine. Treat Mori-san well and _they_ will treat you well in return. Don't bring up anything Kiri related or absolutely nothing will get done." Kakashi finishes his improv lecture with an eye-smile down at them. Sakura notices the emphasis on the they and makes note of it before promptly dismissing it when the doors slide open and reveal the nin from yesterday.

They're grumbling slightly and carrying three standard navy blue lanyards, presumably for them. They don't exactly tower over people, but they seem to be a taller person. Their pants are a dark grey with more pockets than the standard issues, and the leg binding goes up to just slightly below their knee. It's complemented by a long sleeved navy top that reminds them of standard issue, but seems to be sleeker and without the swirl. Their flak vest goes over the ensemble and their bandana pulls back their shoulder length hair. What appears to be a grey trench coat is folded in half and tied on their waist sloppily.

Almost silver eyes seem to pierce into them as they scrutinize them for something. The expression fades when Kakashi stands up straight and claps his hands together once. Obliterating whatever silence was there.

"Maa, maa, I need to go now. Be good for Mori-san kiddies, or we'll try this again with _Morino-san_. And trust me. He's not nearly as likeable." Mori appears to snort at something in Kakashi's statement, but his expression smooths itself out almost immediately as soon as Kakashi poofs away. They look their way and the genin seem to freeze for a moment. The awkward silence was back.

They make a move to speak and the genin clearly don't try to stop them.

"I'm Sekio Mori, please don't be overly formal, it's unnecessary and causes issues in T&I. I'm a part time field shinobi working with the sensory squad on request, R&D and Intelligence on official shifts and apparently someone saw fit to give me a rank in T&I, so I obviously work there too. Don't stand behind me if your prone to sporadic movement, I'm likely to stab you." They were curt about it and somehow Sakura didn't doubt that he was being entirely serious.

They hand out the lanyards and demonstrate how to clip the cards on, pulling their own light grey lanyard out of a pocket with a heavily jammed card on it to show. it's decorated with tiny stickers and pins but not intensely worn. But the universe highly doubted that Sekio would want to explain why almost no one ever requested they pull it out. Weird if you thought about it too long.

The genin we're gestured to follow them and they hesitantly obeyed the silent order.

-

While learning under Sekio Mori team seven learned many things. Not all of which would relevant in any other place or time. They highly doubted they would be able to forget the experience, but at the very least would be able to recognize that they had shared a trauma to remark upon in the future.

  * Sekio Mori was not a male. Or a female. They had apparently not been corrected on their pronouns and had to overhear it from a co-worker jokingly calling Mori-san a genderless eldritch being. 
  * Jokes featuring Mori-san were usually slightly horrifying and completely out of context for any of team seven.
  * Paperwork not filed in triplicate was not considered real paperwork, and it should burn.
  * The sensory squad does bad things to people and should not be interacted with in excess.
  * Ibiki Morino really was absolutely terrifying. Sekio Mori at three in the morning was more so.
  * Seeing the ANBU commander around Intelligence is apparently completely normal. Finding them sitting on Mori-san's desk with an entire coffee pot with a paperwork issue was apparently also not unusual.
  * Mori-san could drink mochas until the day they died and still make another one.
  * Naruto could actually make coffee. Who knew.
  * Writing mission reports was incredibly important. And glossing yourself up in them is a quick way to Sekio's version of hell.
  * Most of the departments that took outside shinobi information couldn't bear to give a single fuck what your formatting was. As long as you detailed the mission, included dates and didn't add extra detail. Scribble on them all you want, Intelligence could not give less of a shit.
  * Sekio Mori apparently hangs up the funniest reports they can find in his office. One of them is apparently from a young Kakashi-sensei and when they attempted to read it it was so mind-numbingly boring Sakura temporarily gained a coffee addiction to get through it. They still don't understand the joke. Another was clearly drawn on wax paper and the borders were filled with the what was apparently seal theory on the margins.
  * If you hear a pun from their mouth you should find a higher ranking nin to deal with it then proceed to make a strategic retreat.



**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: I purposely misgender Sekio several times when giving insights to team 7's thoughts. Except for Kakashi, who somewhere deep, deep, down, could probably never misgender the ninja who attempted to shove them off a roof when they were fourteen and still regularly made puns about Ibiki and theirs last names and has been listed as an emergency medical contact on their file for about a decade now.
> 
> -t might not seems like it, but their really just chaotic friends who bully each other a little sometimes. It's never serious.
> 
> I'd like to make a chapter fully detailing my new-ish timeline with Sekio here. But that'd really interrupt stuff so I'll do my best to explain it here.
> 
> -Sekio Mori is born female to Herrah Mori (Shinobi) and Natsume Mori. (Civilian) They're born in the same generation as people such as Genma and Anko. I've shoved nearby births into the same year for convivence.  
> -They attend the shinobi academy and acquire a reputation for having a temper. No matter how covered by the shyness it was.  
> -Kakashi makes the mistake of insulting Sekio's mother, even if unintentionally. This ends badly. But is eventually resolved. Neither party still has a grudge about it (possibly because Kakashi has shoved the memory into his subconscious.)  
> -Sekio Mori barely scrapes by to chunin with anything resembling confidence due to the team they we're assigned to. Including the worst one of them all, the bastard sensei himself.  
> -Herrah Mori unapologetically beats the shit out of a jounin. The act of violence is never probed into after Herrah gets her temporary probation.  
> -Sekio Mori meets Ibiki Morino for the first time, makes a joke about their last names and proceeds to introduce themselves as a they for the first time.  
> -Sensory squad snaps up Sekio as soon as the paperwork is filed. The legend begins.  
> -Somewhere in between departments, Sekio Mori is deployed to Kiri, slightly falls in love, murders four people in a marsh, and then marches home for their special jounin exam.  
> -In the bottom of the Kiri administration building, you can find a small shrine praising Kio Mori, the paperwork liege too badass for gender. If you say anything, no one will find your corpse.  
> -Sekio Mori ends up somehow legally an official Konoha interrogation officer. Please don't ask their clearance. Bad things will happen.  
> *lots of nonsense I have no space to detail. Since while crack, this has some sense of storytelling.*  
> -Naruto causes a commotion at the butcher.  
> -Team 7 graduate.  
> -Team 7 is promptly submitted to the temporary care of Sekio Mori by a very smug Kakashi Hatake, who knows that Sekio's paperwork lectures will get to them or They Will Die.
> 
> A quick reminder that this is a crack fic. As that is the only genre besides angst I am physically capable of writing without extreme stress. Cheers!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shhh. I'm only alive temporarily so that I can flesh out mori a lil.

As the weather cools down, people congregate. It's colder, but for some reasons being around friends seems to help. Maybe it's a subconscious thing.

In Konoha, it's almost always warm all year round. Snow is about as common as you'd assume. As in there's little to none. The title of Land of Fire likes to hold true.

So maybe this subconscious impulse, and the scarcity of such an event brings people even closer. Probably not, but some people, especially those that are used to the sight, tend to be either sentimental or miserable.

Sekio Mori thinks a combination of both always turns out well.

It's cold, for once, and even rarer, there's snow on the ground. It's not much, but it still gives people that sense of awe, of abnormality. Genin, children or young adults who would normally act more responsible, tend to take one look at the substance and plot ways to ruin the lives of everyone around them with a singular snowball.

Some people think it's hilarious, others retaliate viciously.

Seeing people together makes them sad. Perhaps it's some cruel twist of fate, but things always happen to Sekio in snowstorms. It's stopped snowing, but Sekio spent three years in Kiri, and likes to think they know the look of a storm.

This one isn't fading in two days, and it brings a horrible feeling to their throat. It's an omen, if they decided to be spirtual. But for now, it's simply a reminder of better and worse days.

Their schedule has been empty, for once. Ibiki took one look at the front and must've talked to all of their supervisors, or something, because not a single one has sought them out.

They probably shouldn't cling to Ibiki so much, it was going to end with a kunai in their foot one of these days. The man knew an eerie amount about them. Really it'd be concerning from any other person.

They've had their own experiences in the snow, and Sekio wonders if they have the same emotions attached to the events. Perhaps Ibiki is revolted by them, or something among those lines.

Really, Sekio keeps on referring to experiences in the snow, but that makes it sound impersonal and as if all of them didn't lead back to their romantic experiences.

The words are bland, but there's not real other way to put it. Everytime it snows, Sekio stumbles across someone they'd fall in love with in the future, has some sort of.. experience.. Or gets their heart smashed into fun little pieces.

It's repetitive, and they're grateful that the friends that get dragged into it are considerate enough to typically erase the incidents from their minds these days. No one needs to remember the Genma fling of February. Their nose never quite recovered after Raidou smashed it in. At least someone walked away happy.

Typically, Sekio is able to laugh off the experiences in Konoha. They are funny once they ponder over them long enough. But everytime they leave Fire Country, the heartbreak seems to intensify.

Kirigukare was a time of their life they're not sure they'll ever forget.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ..So. Who exactly was that guy from Kiri?


End file.
